Fun Family Afternoon on KC Transit

[slimwhitman]

We had a little family fun over the holidays via transit. Being a NE JoCo family with kids, we don’t use public transit too much. It’s just not too practical with school, job location and kid sports activities. (Some of you get this, others of you are rolling your eyes.)

So for an afternoon adventure we took a transit trip. My kids are 4 and 6. My son loves anything truck or train, so I knew they would have fun. Being rookies at this, it was a little daunting. My wife and I have ridden trains/busses/subways/etc many, many times in bigger cities and in Europe, but never in KC. We have tried before, but being in JoCo, it never worked for us.

The core component was to ride the Amtrak train to/from Lee’s Summit to/from Union Station and to leave our car at home. There is one train in both directions each day. Rates are decent, but not something you would do daily ($27 for two adults and 2 kids). But how do we get to/from Lee’s Summit or Union Station?

We found that a KCATA bus (bus 175) travels a few blocks from our house only twice in the morning and twice in the evening. Great! With one layover we can take bus 51 from Union Station to the 175. A drive from Union Station to our home would take 20 minutes by car, but takes over 1 hour on the KCATA (ok on this adventure, but rules out using it daily.

There is no way to get to Lee’s Summit. A taxi is the only option.

Taxi cost $42 (OP to LS)
Train cost $27 (LS to US)
Bus cost $3 (Main & Pershing to OP)

The worst part was waiting 30 minutes in the cold on the curb with no seating or shelter for the 15 minute late transfer 175 bus.

The kids had fun, but it felt a bit like an appendage was missing from my body when the taxi dropped us off and I didn’t have my car nearby. What if the train didn’t come? What if we miss our bus? My wife and I both felt that way (silly I know, but I am being honest with you). In a bigger city, we know there will be another bus/train if we miss this one, but in KC there is one train and one bus that takes us where we needed to be.

I am sure many of you urban dudes are laughing right now, but others might find it an interesting adventure to share with your kids as well.

[Eon Blue]

That's a cool story. I totally understand the anxiety, and that's as a daily transit rider who shares one car with his wife. It's awesome that you're giving your kids a positive transit experience so early on. Something like this will stick with them--I blame a childhood novelty trip on the St. Louis Metrolink for getting me started down this path. Maybe to reinforce the experience as a more than a novelty you could take occasional trips to Crown Center or the Plaza--both more easily accessible by transit.

No joking, I got my dad hooked on Amtrak by taking a brief round trip from Lee's Summit to Union Station. It totally works. Have you looked into taking the train to St. Louis for a weekend?

[loftguy]

Slim, what a valuable post. Thank you. (and what a cool thing for you and the Mrs. to do for the kids!)

You point out well many of the flaws with transit in metro KC. The locations and names could be interchanged with most of the metro area and still apply.

And I really don't think there are hardly any on here who would laugh at your honest observations. Other than to laugh at our own discomfort with the sad truths that those comments represent.

[Demosthenes]

Right Loftguy, I don't know who would laugh at someone for telling this story. I wish more people in the burbs would attempt such adventures. Sadly, most people aren't down with adventure

Hopefully someday these trips will be much easier, with a nice commuter rail running out to each major burb. Keep in mind though, traveling between distant suburbs in most cities is not easy. Don't know if traveling between Lee's Summit and OP using transit will ever be easy, though that would be really awesome if our transit was improved that much.

Ahhhh man I can't wait til we get rail transit!

[flyingember]

eep in mind though, traveling between distant suburbs in most cities is not easy. Don't know if traveling between Lee's Summit and OP using transit will ever be easy, though that would be really awesome if our transit was improved that much.

I'd argue this will be key for KC for rail to work with so many jobs at different corners of the city. like someone from liberty needs to be able to get to tiffany springs or someone from lee's summit to olathe

we need to build more of a web network and not a series of lines radiating outwards

[shaffe]

I thought of this thread today when I changed desks at work and now sit next to somebody who takes the bus downtown from lee's summit. I was really impressed since as a northlander I know that it can be kind of a PITA to use transit to get downtown.

I, too, yearn for a day when there is better transit connectivity out to the major suburbs. Perhaps a five points system of KCI, Liberty/35, Blue Springs/70, Lee's Summit, and Olathe/JoCo/35 might someday happen.

[DaveKCMO]

a climate controlled transfer point is an amenity that should be expected, especially in areas that aren't walkable (san antonio does this really well, considering their metro is the same size). instead, riders here are treated to stops with no sidewalks and major transfer points that have no warm/cool place to wait. my recent winter experience at the new mission transit center -- basically a large metal roof with no climate protection -- reminded me about the uphill struggle suburban transit users face DAILY. at least downtown there's an open coffee shop i can duck into when the weather is bad.

[flyingember]

along N. Oak they put new concrete in last fall. some have benches, some covers too

but they didn't even put a trash can at every stop, even at stops where people actually use the bus frequently enough to need one. I'll see trash left sitting on the bench or the ground and we all know that makes someone want to ride the bus.

it's obviously hard with 6000+ stops but you'd think they would have buy something as basic as trash cans for every stop they improve enough to need seating

it's the small details that matter. and being forced to carry your empty cup or bottle onto the bus because there's no trash can is just bad form by the kcata

that's before we even get into recycling, which has never been a concern for the kcata let alone the city walk around downtown and try to find a place to recycle without going inside. they're rare at best. a bus stop is the perfect place for a recycling setup